Paul Johnson's job

[inGTwetrust]

Imo he could help himself... he makes what, 3.4M? Take a cut to 3 flat and put 400k towards assistants (have to be negotiated so the school can't just pocket the extra). May not get the best of the best, but that's gotta be a couple of specialized guys that he could bring or extra money to travel to recruit. If he does that. It'd at least show he is committed, just waiting for the school to come around.

Then again, if you asked me to cut 400k from my wages, I'd probably laugh at you all the way to the bank.

 

[IronJacket7]

I think we'd be in a far better position long term, if Todd told CPJ this ..."We like you. We like what your'e doing. But we have to build a Tech Way of doing things. So, I'm going to help you. First, you are going to hire better staff. And you're going to delegate play calling to the OC.

I'm intrigued by you thought process here. However, some thoughts...

I like Paul and I like what he does; at times. I'm not happy with the way he's been running the scheme as a whole since the last half of the 2013 season. I love our offense. I also love variation. I not talking about throwing the baby out with the bath water. I'm referring to variation he started with in 2013 and abandoned it right after the Duke game, whom we destroyed. I don't want Paul to leave/get fired. Not sure if delegating to an OC would be helpful but I am intrigued by the thought. Paul is an offensive genius but I feel he is holding back. I feel he has a strong conviction/stubborness about doing it the GA Southern Way. We had a great year in 2014. However, we also had several seniors on that team who are in the NFL now. We could have ran just about any offensive scheme that season and won 9-10 regular season games. I feel the variation would make it more difficult for teams to prepare for us. I also feel that more variation in our scheme would break down some of the negative thought process within the recruiting world. Again just my opinion and thoughts.

 

[Vespidae]

Tennessee does have great football facilities ... but UT is a great example of having great facilities and mediocre teams for YEARS. I think they are finally back on track, but look what the frequent coaching changes (including Lane Tiffin) did to that program.

Consistency ... building and managing to a model ... works wonders.

 

[VolJacket]

Tennessee does have great football facilities ... but UT is a great example of having great facilities and mediocre teams for YEARS. I think they are finally back on track, but look what the frequent coaching changes (including Lane Tiffin) did to that program.

Consistency ... building and managing to a model ... works wonders.

That is true i agree with you there

 

[Rock]

I'm intrigued by you thought process here. However, some thoughts...

I like Paul and I like what he does; at times. I'm not happy with the way he's been running the scheme as a whole since the last half of the 2013 season. I love our offense. I also love variation. I not talking about throwing the baby out with the bath water. I'm referring to variation he started with in 2013 and abandoned it right after the Duke game, whom we destroyed. I don't want Paul to leave/get fired. Not sure if delegating to an OC would be helpful but I am intrigued by the thought. Paul is an offensive genius but I feel he is holding back. I feel he has a strong conviction/stubborness about doing it the GA Southern Way. We had a great year in 2014. However, we also had several seniors on that team who are in the NFL now. We could have ran just about any offensive scheme that season and won 9-10 regular season games. I feel the variation would make it more difficult for teams to prepare for us. I also feel that more variation in our scheme would break down some of the negative thought process within the recruiting world. Again just my opinion and thoughts.

I see this all the time and I don't understand it.
If he is such an "offensive genius" he would able to adapt and have some variance to find something that works. Running the same plays that are not working is the opposite of genius.
To me, when things are no clicking he looks lost on the sideline.

Just my .02

 

[PBR549]

It's a glowing tribute to Paul Johnson and his staff that he's been here for 9 years which is a feat that no other coach has done since Dodd. If we don't want him making comparisons to Clemson then we don't need to hold him responsible to beat them.

As for excuses? If we want to compete we need changes from the top. If you just want to fire a coach every four years and stay bitter all the time we can just leave things the way they are.

 

[IronJacket7]

I see this all the time and I don't understand it.
If he is such an "offensive genius" he would able to adapt and have some variance to find something that works. Running the same plays that are not working is the opposite of genius.
To me, when things are no clicking he looks lost on the sideline.

Just my .02

I don't think he's lost. Just stubborn. Just my opinion.

 

[Rock]

I don't think he's lost. Just stubborn. Just my opinion.

That's fair.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I don't think GTAA has the money to pay another firing.

Sometimes, what a good coach needs is a strong partner on the admin side. And frankly, Tech has not had a good AD in many years. It's the AD's job to raise money, build facilities, run the programs, manage the marketing ... and we just haven't had an A team doing that. I think Todd is a good start so let's wait and see what he thinks?

Also, I am just not a fan of changing coaches every 6 or 7 years. There's just too much "churn" created for the possibility of improvement. Look at UGA. Unless they become an SEC power ... they've created a lot of angst. I like coaches in place 10, 15 and more years so you can see a style for a longer period of time.

I think it is far better to build a system, a Tech Way of running a football program, and surrounding the coach with the personnel and systems to make that Tech Way work. We haven't done that. We rely on the coach ... his system, his motivation, his connections ... and so when you change coaches, you change A LOT.

I think we'd be in a far better position long term, if Todd told CPJ this ..."We like you. We like what your'e doing. But we have to build a Tech Way of doing things. So, I'm going to help you. First, you are going to hire better staff. And you going to delegate play calling to the OC. Second, you are going to teach, I mean TEACH, the TO to the coaching staff. And third, you are going to hold the coaching staff accountable for teaching the TO to the team. So, if they fail to do so and we continue to see execution errors, we expect you to manage them or manage them out. Finally, you need to establish a succession plan so this system we are building lives on after you leave. So, within the next year, you need to have an assistant coach who is your logical successor and he needs to be within our system now so you can teach him. If you do that, we're going to win, we're going to win the Tech Way, and we're going to do our Institute proud. If you can commit to doing that, we're good. If you can't, we need to talk further as your contract concludes."

That's what I would do.

Leave out telling CPJ to hire an OC to call the plays and hiring someone to groom as a successor, and I agree, but those two thoughts alone amount to micro-managing, and that's not the job of the AD....ANY AD.

 

[BigDaddyBuzz]

I loved the shotgun spread option with Vad. The issue is, and CPJ won't admit this, but we can't run this with JT because he is too short to pass from the pocket. That is why all of our throws are off roll outs. We could run this with Jordan and definitely with Lucas Johnson in the future. We don't even have to go shotgun to open up the passing game, look at the Jordan touchdown pass to Lynch against Mercer. He stepped up in the pocket and threw a strike for a td. We just can't do it with a short QB

 

[RonJohn]

I'm intrigued by you thought process here. However, some thoughts...

I like Paul and I like what he does; at times. I'm not happy with the way he's been running the scheme as a whole since the last half of the 2013 season. I love our offense. I also love variation. I not talking about throwing the baby out with the bath water. I'm referring to variation he started with in 2013 and abandoned it right after the Duke game, whom we destroyed. I don't want Paul to leave/get fired. Not sure if delegating to an OC would be helpful but I am intrigued by the thought. Paul is an offensive genius but I feel he is holding back. I feel he has a strong conviction/stubborness about doing it the GA Southern Way. We had a great year in 2014. However, we also had several seniors on that team who are in the NFL now. We could have ran just about any offensive scheme that season and won 9-10 regular season games. I feel the variation would make it more difficult for teams to prepare for us. I also feel that more variation in our scheme would break down some of the negative thought process within the recruiting world. Again just my opinion and thoughts.

The diamond shotgun formation "looks" more like the spread offense at Auburn and Ohio State. However, if you look at the plays in the highlights, there are no options in any of the shotgun plays. If you look at all of the linemen, there are no optioned players. The QB fakes an option read to the AB, but there is nothing to read. It appears looking back at it that this was put in because the QB could not run the offense. The "fake" option was put in to keep LBs and DBs up and open up the passing game. It worked there. However after other teams get film and realize that there is no option, that it is straight blocking, and either a called run or called pass, DCs would adjust and stop that passing attack.

 

[JKMSJ]

I am a big fan of CPJ but he has said some things recently that you just don't say in public. The one comment that bothers me the most is him saying our players are not as talented as Clemson's players. We all know this is true even our players know this. I bet they still don't like there head coach saying that to the media. How would CPJ like it if the players started saying CPJ and his coaching staff are not as talented as Dabo and his coaching staff.

 

[Vespidae]

"Again just my opinion and thoughts."

My thoughts are expressed as a somewhat retired executive and having led multiple turnarounds of failing businesses. John Boyd, a USAF officer (and Tech grad) summed it up this way ... Success is all about "People, Ideas, and Hardware ... in that order!"

I am not a fan of the head coach calling plays. The head coach has to be the CEO of the coaching staff and that means identifying the people he needs to implement his vision. CPJ doesn't have that. I would bet that none of his staff have the TO knowledge he does and that's a BIG problem. They have to be able to teach that system to the team and if they don't know it ... who is doing the teaching? Paul? With the limited number of practices, how can he possibly do that? He can't. So he has to surround himself with folks he can trust and get the job done.

As an executive, you can almost always demonstrate technical mastery of the subject. But that's not why you are the executive. It's about getting the most out of the team and teaching the system. True for business, true for sports. Paul should be teaching the TO and not trying show how much he knows by also calling plays.

There are several tru-isms in football. First, more games are lost than won. Penalties, breakdowns, and turnovers lead to a loss more than generating a ton of yards. And most breakdowns occur on the offensive side of the ball (missed assignments, fumbles, etc). The best teams then, play a strong defense and an error-free offense (as much as you can.)

Second, coaching breakdowns (poor play calling) is a leading problem of underperforming teams and that is the fault of the head coach and OC. It is not just player talent. Did the OC select the right play based on the defensive coverage AND with the highest probability of success?

Third, field position is the most significant driver of offensive performance. A typical offensive possession of more than 12 plays will STOP itself with BREAKDOWNS … unless the offense has a long gainer of 30 yards or more. So you have to play either a) inside the 50 (short, fast strikes) or b) plan for an explosive gain (a 30 yd pass for example.)

All in, the TO sets up perfectly for Tech. But we have a combination of coaching breakdowns (not the best play calling at times) so we need more emphasis (IMHO) on a quality control coach, followed by more teaching and b) not losing the game through poor execution of the fundamentals (i.e., fumbles). Look at Miami last week ... we played well and beat ourselves with turnovers.

If I had to grade CPJ it would be this ... You have selected the right offense to install, but you have not implemented the complete system to make it successful. Defense is as important, if not more, to implementing TO so let's do that, and then focus your talents on playing error-free ball on the O side.

Good discussion. I wish CPJ were here!

 

[VolJacket]

Leave out telling CPJ to hire an OC to call the plays and hiring someone to groom as a successor, and I agree, but those two thoughts alone amount to micro-managing, and that's not the job of the AD....ANY AD.

Could you imaging CPJ being fired after a subpar 2016 season and then going down the street and being hired as head coach of Georgia State? That would be very bizarre but it would be possible.

 

[VolJacket]

"Again just my opinion and thoughts."

My thoughts are expressed as a somewhat retired executive and having led multiple turnarounds of failing businesses. John Boyd, a USAF officer (and Tech grad) summed it up this way ... Success is all about "People, Ideas, and Hardware ... in that order!"

I am not a fan of the head coach calling plays. The head coach has to be the CEO of the coaching staff and that means identifying the people he needs to implement his vision. CPJ doesn't have that. I would bet that none of his staff have the TO knowledge he does and that's a BIG problem. They have to be able to teach that system to the team and if they don't know it ... who is doing the teaching? Paul? With the limited number of practices, how can he possibly do that? He can't. So he has to surround himself with folks he can trust and get the job done.

As an executive, you can almost always demonstrate technical mastery of the subject. But that's not why you are the executive. It's about getting the most out of the team and teaching the system. True for business, true for sports. Paul should be teaching the TO and not trying show how much he knows by also calling plays.

There are several tru-isms in football. First, more games are lost than won. Penalties, breakdowns, and turnovers lead to a loss more than generating a ton of yards. And most breakdowns occur on the offensive side of the ball (missed assignments, fumbles, etc). The best teams then, play a strong defense and an error-free offense (as much as you can.)

Second, coaching breakdowns (poor play calling) is a leading problem of underperforming teams and that is the fault of the head coach and OC. It is not just player talent. Did the OC select the right play based on the defensive coverage AND with the highest probability of success?

Third, field position is the most significant driver of offensive performance. A typical offensive possession of more than 12 plays will STOP itself with BREAKDOWNS … unless the offense has a long gainer of 30 yards or more. So you have to play either a) inside the 50 (short, fast strikes) or b) plan for an explosive gain (a 30 yd pass for example.)

All in, the TO sets up perfectly for Tech. But we have a combination of coaching breakdowns (not the best play calling at times) so we need more emphasis (IMHO) on a quality control coach, followed by more teaching and b) not losing the game through poor execution of the fundamentals (i.e., fumbles). Look at Miami last week ... we played well and beat ourselves with turnovers.

If I had to grade CPJ it would be this ... You have selected the right offense to install, but you have not implemented the complete system to make it successful. Defense is as important, if not more, to implementing TO so let's do that, and then focus your talents on playing error-free ball on the O side.

Good discussion. I wish CPJ were here!

Great points you make Vespidae

 

[RonJohn]

I loved the shotgun spread option with Vad. The issue is, and CPJ won't admit this, but we can't run this with JT because he is too short to pass from the pocket. That is why all of our throws are off roll outs. We could run this with Jordan and definitely with Lucas Johnson in the future. We don't even have to go shotgun to open up the passing game, look at the Jordan touchdown pass to Lynch against Mercer. He stepped up in the pocket and threw a strike for a td. We just can't do it with a short QB

Except for the very first play of that game?

The OLine blocked similarly, the WRs and RBs ran different routes, but the plays were extremely similar.

 

[Rock]

I loved the shotgun spread option with Vad. The issue is, and CPJ won't admit this, but we can't run this with JT because he is too short to pass from the pocket. That is why all of our throws are off roll outs. We could run this with Jordan and definitely with Lucas Johnson in the future. We don't even have to go shotgun to open up the passing game, look at the Jordan touchdown pass to Lynch against Mercer. He stepped up in the pocket and threw a strike for a td. We just can't do it with a short QB

They list him at 5'11 (LOL) .
I am 5'10 and I am taller than he is. 5'9 maybe.

 

[VolJacket]

Except for the very first play of that game?

The OLine blocked similarly, the WRs and RBs ran different routes, but the plays were extremely similar.

I'd like to see GT run the Tennessee version of "shotgun" spread offense. I think it could work at GT like it does at Tennessee

 

[IronJacket7]

The diamond shotgun formation "looks" more like the spread offense at Auburn and Ohio State. However, if you look at the plays in the highlights, there are no options in any of the shotgun plays. If you look at all of the linemen, there are no optioned players. The QB fakes an option read to the AB, but there is nothing to read. It appears looking back at it that this was put in because the QB could not run the offense. The "fake" option was put in to keep LBs and DBs up and open up the passing game. It worked there. However after other teams get film and realize that there is no option, that it is straight blocking, and either a called run or called pass, DCs would adjust and stop that passing attack.

The play you are referring to is called the inverted veer. There is a read still involved. It is an inversion of the read option. Also their are several plays we ran out of the Full House formation during that game. I only post the "highlight" reel.

We can run the same plays (I.E. Triple Option) out of Pistol Sets that we do out of our base flexbone. However the Pistol provides a bit more time for the reads and the drops are not as long for the QB on passing plays.

 

[IronJacket7]

I loved the shotgun spread option with Vad. The issue is, and CPJ won't admit this, but we can't run this with JT because he is too short to pass from the pocket. That is why all of our throws are off roll outs. We could run this with Jordan and definitely with Lucas Johnson in the future. We don't even have to go shotgun to open up the passing game, look at the Jordan touchdown pass to Lynch against Mercer. He stepped up in the pocket and threw a strike for a td. We just can't do it with a short QB

I just like the Full House set because it provides a bit more time for the reads and the drops are not as long for the QB on passing plays. Not saying I want to see it all the time. Just want us to mix it in.